Life in Nippon
by Yuuki223
Summary: "Tsk, tsk. Now, now Susano," The man said, "You already love someone. I must be taking this girl with moi. I know she is going to be the sacrifice for this year. Come with me, Tamiko." (Sorry for the inactivity, I will try to update sooner!)
1. Chapter 1

**OC info Name: ? Gender: Girl Age:six Personality:? Parents:? Preferances:? **

**Chapter 1**

_Open your eyes child._ I felt wetness on my eyelids. I opened them. I was laying back in white stuff. _This is snow._ 'Snow…? What is snow?' _The white stuff is snow._ 'What white stuff?'_ The stuff in your hand._ 'In my hand…?'_ There will be something red._ 'Something…red?'_ You must learn to fear it._ 'Fear what…?' _The red thing._ 'Where is the red thing?'_ In a cave. _'Is it all red?'_ All you will see is red._ 'Where am I?' _I don't know._ 'Why am I here?' _You are a sacrifice. _'To what?'_ The red thing. _'Why…?'_ It's because you are going to become a beautiful young maiden. _'Beautiful…young...maiden…?'

"Hey, little girl, are you lost?" A man asked. I looked up at him dully. The man has black hair and black eyes. I shrugged. The man sighed. He bent down and sat down in the "snow." I stared at him. The man wore a paper mask with a symbol on it covering his face now. The man's skin and cloths turned green. He carried a flute.

"Little girl, would you mind if I showed you to my high authority?" The green thing asked. I just stared at him. I crawled closer to it and tried to lift up the mask. The green thing swatted my hand away. It glared at me. I crawled back to my original position. The green thing rose and reached for his flute. A sward cut him in half before he could do that, though. I looked up. There was a wolf. The wolf had red on its back and on the top of its fur. There were white circles with dots in the middle. The rest of the wolf was blue. The wolf wore a mask in between its eyes. The mask looked like a pig, and had red eyes. The wolf also had red eyes.

"Girl, what are you doing here?" The wolf snarled. I shrugged. The wolf huffed. It grabbed me by my dress. It hauled me onto its back. I hugged its neck as it ran. The wolf ran through a gateway and through a house. It got suddenly warm. The wolf forced me off.

"This is as far as I can take you." The wolf said. I struggled to my feet. I took one wary step forward. And then another. Once I made it out the little house, I flung myself down.

I flung myself down on green stuff. _It's grass._ 'Grass? Grass is everywhere. Does it kill you?' _No silly child._ 'Is man dangerous?'_ No, but yes at the same time._ 'A man with an orange on his head?' _No, he's nice._ 'A boy with a wooden sward?'_ No, but in the future you'll have to watch him._ 'The girl next to the boy?'_ She couldn't hurt you._ 'The girl to the right of the orange man?'_ She won't hurt you._

"Mr. Orange, who is she?" The boy asked.

"Quiet, Susano!"Mr. Orange snapped. Mr. Orange looked at me. He smiled sweetly. He walked up to me.

"What's your name?" He asked. I shrugged. Mr. Orange stood up all the way.

"You don't know your own name?" He asked, appalled. I nodded. Mr. Orange sighed. He smiled then.

"Let's call you Tamiko." He said. I nodded. Mr. Orange bent down again and picked me up and put me on his back. I wrapped my arms around his neck and let him carry me all the way down to a village. He set me down and let me wander around the village. A man dressed funny looked at me. He had blond bangs, and the rest of his hair was white. It was like two pigtails, only they came out of a green hat that looked like a bird's head. The tip of the hair that was pointed to look like wings was red. The man leapt into the air, and shot away before I could approach him. I huffed in anger, and continued to explore. I walked into the warrior's house, Susano's dad. Susano saw me before his dad. He opened his mouth to yell at me, but then closed it. I walked to a sharp thing on the wall. _That's a katana._ 'What's a katana?'_ A weapon. Weapons are sharp objects used to protect yourself._ I looked at a giant scroll. 'I know what those are used for. They're used to write.'_ Or draw._ 'Right.'

"Who the hell are you?" A man snapped I looked up at this man that looked just like Susano. I backed up and hit the wall with the Katana. The man glared at me. I turned for the door and ran outside.

"Yea, run little girl!" Susano called after me. Tears of fear streamed down my face. I was an outsider. I fell down in front of the lake. I looked at my reflection. I had purple eyes. I wore a dress with white on top, but the rest was black with a black choker. I rubbed my eye and curled up to sleep outside.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Waka~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_**… …**_

_**… …**_

_**Wake up. Wake up! WAKE UP!**_

I shot up from bed. I sat panting. I looked around my room. Nothing. I sighed. What was this thing doing now? I looked out of the window. I sighed. I thought about that girl again. She stared at moi as if…if…if she knew me. Did I know her? … … I couldn't answer that. I sighed and lied back down in bed. I tried to close my eyes and sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**OC info Name: Tamiko Gender: Girl Age:****twenty Personality: Shy, mean at times. Parents: Mr. and Mrs. Orange Preferences: Spending time under the guardian sapling**

**Chapter 2**

I groaned. I rolled over in bed (we sleep in sleeping bags, basically, but they're comfy). I felt someone poke me. I rolled onto my back and opened my eyes. I saw Mr. Orange.

"A man is outside. He asked for every woman to report around him." Mr. Orange said, "It's about the sacrifices." I nodded and sat up, covering myself with the covers. Mr. Orange walked out of the room. I stood up, stretched, and slipped on a Kimoto I remember getting for my sixteenth birthday. I haven't grown an inch since then (height wise). I walked out; ignoring the sandal I'm supposed to wear. I like to go barefoot. When I walk outside, I walk strait into Akio. I blush.

"I'm sorry." I mutter. He wraps his arms around me. We liked each other. Akio is Susano's brother. Akio is handsomer than Susano by far. He keeps a different hairstyle, and he doesn't have a beard. He looked into my eyes. He smiled sweetly. My heart fluttered. Akio smiled.

"You have to report to the white haired man." Akio said. I nodded. He let me go and I walked up to the white haired man. He looked down at me with questioning cyan eyes. He jumped from his position as Susano slammed into me. I cried out and landed on my back hard. I glared at Susano.

"Get off of me." I snapped. Susano blushed and got off of me. I stood up and smoothed my Kimono down. I turned around and looked at the white haired man. He tsked.

"Tsk, tsk. Now, now Susano," The man said, "You already love someone. I must be taking this girl with moi. I know she is going to be the sacrifice for this year. Come with me, Tamiko."

A chill ran down my spine. He knew my name even before I knew his. Akio's eyes widened.

"You can't take her!" he cried.

"Orders form the queen say I can." The man said. Akio shook his head.

"I won't let you." Akio said. I stood there in shock. I blinked. I looked at the man with the white hair.

"How did you know my name?" I asked. The man looked at me and smiled.

"My secret, ma chérie." He said. Akio's eyes went to fire.

"'My darling'? You two just met!" Akio snapped. The man held up his hands in surrender.

"I'm sorry. For moi, 'ma chérie' is just an expression for most girls." The man said, "If I had called her 'mon amour' I would understand your anger."

"And that is…?" I said. The man smiled.

"Mon amour is 'my love.'" The man said. I scratched my head.

"Why would the queen want to see me?" I asked. The man shrugged.

"She wants you to live in the palace with her, I'm guessing." The man said. I nodded. Akio walked behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. I put a hand on his arm. He tightened his grip on me.

"I won't let you." He said sternly. The man sighed. He was extremely tall. I looked down at his shoes. They elevated him up a foot. I blinked. The man held out his hand to me.

"She gets to decide if she comes or stays." The man said.

"Well, if the queen's orders are for me to come back with you, I don't want to get you punished." I said shyly. Akio let go reluctantly. I took the man's hand. He leaped into the air. I gasped. I pulled myself into the man. I hugged him tightly and shut my eyes.

"Don't worry ma chérie. I won't let you fall." He said. I ignored him. I continued to hug him tightly. The man landed. I opened my eyes. I gasped. We were in Sei-An city. I let the man go and started to wander off. I started to feel dizzy. I blinked. I placed a hand on my forehead, trying to steady myself, but I wobbled a little.

"Ma chérie, are you alright?" The man asked. I nodded, but then fell down. My eyes closed as my legs hit the ground.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Waka~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I looked over at Tamiko. She had her hand on her forehead. She started to sway a little. I felt myself walking towards her.

"Ma chérie, are you alright?" I asked. She nodded, but then fainted. Her legs hit the ground, and I rushed forward. I caught her back. Her head slumped over my arm uselessly. I picked her up and carried her towards the palace.

"Is this sleeping child the girl who I asked for?" the queen snarled. I winced, but then nodded. The queen spun around to face moi, her black eyes like fire.

"I asked for a maiden, not a child!" The queen snapped.

"She _is_ the maiden your looking for, Votre Majesté." I said, "And don't say I got it wrong. I can see the future of someone just by looking in their eyes. She would have been chosen this year if I hadn't taken her. And anyway, I'm just following my orders."

The queen glared at me. She spit at my shoe.

"You're always the one to make fun of my decisions. No matter. She shall stay with me in the palace. I will adopt her." The queen said. This queen was the queen before her daughter Himiko, but Queen Himiko died during her time, and she had no child. Queen Akahana, in despair and regret, took her daughter's place. Queen Akahana grew bitter, and now hates every girl about her daughter's age, and calls herself a "young maiden."

"Excusez-moi, but this girl already has parents." I said. Queen Akahana glared at me.

"Kill them, then." She said.

"What?" I shouted, "I will not murder innocent old people. I'll have you know, she doesn't have to be your daughter to become queen. You can appoint her queen."

"How dare you!" Queen Akahana shouted. I winced again. Queen Akahana opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out.

"You have a point, Waka my dear." She said sweetly. I felt a shiver run down my spine. Queen Akahana spoke again, "Lay her down in my room. I shall talk to her later."

I nodded and walked out. I felt Queen Akahana tap me on the shoulder. I turned around slightly and she pecked my cheek. I felt like rolling my eyes and telling her I was too young for her anyway, despite the fact that I'm over 200 years old, and walked out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Tamiko~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I woke up in a bed (and I mean one off of the floor). I sat up and suddenly realized I wasn't wearing my old kimono. I pulled the covers up over my bare body. I looked over and saw the queen. She turned to me and smiled.

"I want you to learn how to be a queen." She said.

"Why?" I asked, trying not to sound rude.

"I want you to know how to rule a country because my daughter, Queen Himiko, died during her time. I had to take over. I'm too old for this, darling. What is your name again?" She asked.

"T-Tamiko, ma'am." I stammered, not used to talking to royalty.

"Tamiko? What a pretty name for such a…pretty girl." She said with the last part filled with venom. I looked down at the covers.

"Never mind that, girl. Get up and I'll take your measurements." She said. I nodded and slid out of the bed. I stood there, in front of the queen, un-presentable. She got a measuring tape and measured my waist size, my chest, how tall I was, my arm length, and my leg length. She assumed it would be the same for both sides, so she only measured one arm and one leg. She walked out of the room with my measurements written. I was left to just stand there, waiting. I heard a knock on the door.

"Is everything alright, ma chérie?" the man called. I blushed.

"Yes." I said.

"May I come in?" The man called again.

"No." I said. There was a sigh. I heard the Queen yell something at the man, and I heard her open the door. I instinctively covered my chest and my other aria. The queen walked in. She shut the door and I uncovered myself.

"Try these on." She said. I felt the soft silk. One of the pieces to my new Kimono was red with flowers, the bottom part. The next part were blue sleeves that covered my chest but went under the red with flowers one (the flowers were white). Then I had red flats with white flowers in the same pattern of the kimono part. I gasped. I slipped on the sleeves, then the dress part, and then I slipped on the flats.

"How do you feel?" she asked.

"I feel just the same, only more comfortable." I replied. The queen chuckled. She patted me on the shoulder and walked out. The man walked in after her. I turned to him.

"My apologies, I never introduced myself." He said, "I am Waka, leader of the Tao tribe."

I gave a nod of thanks. I looked at my unmade bed. I walked over to it and grabbed the covers. I pulled them over to make it look like no one slept in this bed. I smiled and leaned up. I turned around and looked at Waka.

"Waka!" The Queen shouted. He tensed, sighed, and walked out. At the door he turned to look at me.

"The queen has asked me to teach you how to use a sward." He said. He walked out. I stood there, confused. Why would a queen need to know how to use a sward? I don't know.


	3. Chapter 3

**OC info Name: Tamiko Gender: Girl Age:****twenty Personality: Shy, mean at times. Parent: Queen Akahana Preferences: Wandering**

**Chapter 3**

I walked out into the hall. I was confused still about being abducted from my home by Waka. I tended to wander around the palace, trying to find out where I should go and where I could be. Queen Akahana was still bitter about having me in her palace, but I was trying to make the best of it. This morning Waka found me walking.

"Where are you headed to?" he asked me.

"I don't know." I replied. He smiled. He grabbed my wrist and tugged me behind him.

"Today you will learn how to spar." He said. I blinked.

"May I take off my shoes?" I asked randomly. He froze. He looked back at me.

"Why?" he asked.

"I prefer going barefoot." I said. He laughed. I blushed hard. He nodded after he regained his composure. We walked in silence for a while. Before we entered the training room, I had to ask him something.

"Does the queen like you?" I asked. Waka sighed.

"Yes, she does. She doesn't like the fact that I don't love, but she's trying to warm up to me."

"Well…Could you possibly warm up to someone?" I asked. Waka's head lowered.

"I've tried. Every time I think a girl won't die on me, they do." He said. He pushed open the door and walked into the training room before I could comment.

I stepped in and instantly felt dizzy again.

_You cannot spar, child._ 'Why not?'_ Because, then it would defeat your purpose._

"My purpose…?" I whispered out loud. Waka turned around. He stared at me.

"Tamiko-chan, are you alright?" Waka asked. I shook my head.

"I can't spar…It would defeat my purpose…"I whispered, my eyes dulling.

"Tamiko-chan!" Waka cried out, but I already started to fall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Waka~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"My purpose…?" Tamiko whispered. I turned to face her. I looked deep into her eyes.

"Tamiko-chan, are you alright?" I asked. Tamiko shook her head.

"I can't spar…It would defeat my purpose…" she said as her eyes dulled.

"Tamiko-chan!" I cried out, trying to break the spell. Too late. She collapsed. I lunged and caught her. I cursed under my breath.

"What's the problem Waka?" Queen Akahana asked. I looked up at her.

"She said 'I can't spar it would defeat my purpose' and blacked out. What I want to find out is her 'purpose.' I mean, people are born, but no one just appears." I said. Queen Akahana frowned.

"Take her to her room."

"Yes Votre Majesté." I said. I lifted her up and carried her to her room. When I lied her down on her bed, she weakly opened her eyes.

"I know my purpose." She whispered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Tamiko~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was sitting in the celestrial plain. I looked at a brilliant white wolf. She dipped her head.

"I am Shiranui. I must stay up in the heavens. I must stay here because if I head down there, the monsters shall try to take over as they did when I was there. Now child, I brought you back to act as a goddess. Now, I know you are being forced to become a queen, but that isn't your path. Your path is to be a goddess. You were brought back. I have been answering your questions and talking to you. You are meant to help those in need.

"I know you may have started to notice Waka. He is your destined partner. People will try to tell you otherwise, but it's true. I wish for you to become the priestess for the Queen. I shall send another girl your age to replace you. Please, fallow that path, or I shall keep making you faint until you end up never waking up." The wolf said, without moving her lips.

"Isn't that harsh?" I asked. Shiranui whined.

"Yes, but it must be done. All you have to say to Waka is 'I know my purpose' and he will help you achieve it. Do not tell him." Shiranui said. I nodded. She howled, and the celestrial plain disappeared.

I woke up as Waka was lying me down.

"I know my purpose." I whispered.

"What is it?" He asked. I smiled.

"I can't say. I won't be able to achieve it if I do." I said. Waka sighed, but then nodded. Waka let me go and I sat up. I stood up and took off my flats.

"You're not going to walk around my palace with those bare feet." Queen Akahana snapped.

I sighed and slipped them on again. I _hated_ flats. Sure they went along with my Kimono okay, but they pinched my feet. I tried to walk forward, but then my foot went onto its side. Waka caught me before I fell. I huffed. 'You're just going to keep doing this until you get your way, huh Shiranui?' _Yes._ I looked up at Waka in thanks. Queen Akahana looked back.

"Ugh, fine. Take them off." She said. I smiled and took off my flats. I handed them to her. She rolled her eyes. She ran off at hearing a knock for the door. Waka turned me around in his arms.

"What is controlling you?" He asked. _Okay, don't tell him about the part where you two are meant for each other._

"I have to become the priestess." I said, "It will help me help people and that's my purpose."

"Beautifully said, mon amour." Waka said, "But I asked who was _controlling_ you."

"I'm getting to that. Shiranui gave me a second chance, and I have to live by her rules now. If I want my shoes off, she'll make me clumsy in them just to get them off of my feet." I said. Waka smiled. He pecked me on the forehead. I blushed. He helped me to a standing position. He turned me around and lightly pushed me forward. We walked into the main room. My gaze fell upon a beautiful girl about my age. She had the natural black hair and black eyes. Queen Akahana gasped at her beauty.

"What is your name?" She asked.

"Yuki." The woman replied. Queen Akahana looked at me, and then back at her.

"Tamiko, come here." Queen Akahana said. I did as I was told. The Queen took off my dress part, but I slipped on my old Kimono right after, so Waka (hopefully!) didn't see anything. I took off the sleeve part of my dress and handed it to Queen Akahana, pulling the kimono sleeves over my shoulders. I re tied it. I sighed. 'I love this kimono.' _I made it for you, you know._ I smiled to myself. I turned around and saw Waka covering his eyes. I smiled. I looked back at Yuki and Queen Akahana. They were still fumbling with the dress, but everything was covered up.

"Waka, you can look now." I said. He uncovered his eyes. He smiled at me. He looked up at Queen Akahana.

"Votre Majesté, I'm going to take Tamiko to train." Waka said. Queen Akahana gave the wave of a hand to signify 'okay.' Waka grabbed my wrist and dragged me back to the training center.

"I thought I said I can't spar!" I shouted. Waka smiled. He handed me a paintbrush that you would use to write. I arched one eyebrow.

"Just pay attention. You have to learn all of the techniques and master them if you want to become what Shiranui, or Amaterasu, wants you to become. Listen, you will learn the ones that she learned _in order._ We start out with the brush.

"First thing you need to know about the brush is that Amaterasu used it when she was in human form way before any of the moon tribe ever existed. Her and Orochi started the world, some believe. Amaterasu to include the good in the world, Orochi to include the bad in the world, and together the in between. The 'okay' lives. The brush will do whatever you ask it to, so be careful!

"Next thing you need to know is that you will get powers with this. You will be able to see when someone still needs to talk to you. There will be their favorite shape in their favorite color over their head. Got it?" Waka said. I nodded. I looked above his head and saw a blue crescent moon.

"Anything else?" I asked. Waka smiled.

"Good. Now, the most important thing about that brush is that if any normal person, other than me, touches it, the powers will vanish, and you will die." Waka said sternly.

"Couldn't I just absorb the power and be able to draw that stuff with my finger?" I asked.

"Yes. But, you have to have mastered, and I mean _mastered_ every technique." Waka said, "That's why Shiranui was so powerful. She didn't really need to draw what she wanted, she could just howl." I nodded.

"Now we will start to practice Rejuvenation. This technique will fix a broken object. See that training stand over there?" Waka said, pointing at a broken training dummy. I nodded.

"Fix it with your brush." He said. I nodded. I looked at it and closed my left eye. With my right hand, I re-drew the dummy. In a flash of light, the dummy was back to normal. Waka smiled widely.

"Already good." He muttered. We practiced the trick multiple times. I grew tired.

"That's what will happen with you. You'd have to have a limit to your powers. Amaterasu kept it in check by saying how many ink bottles she had empty. They would recharge after a while, but not with you. You aren't a goddess yet. Go get some sleep, Tamiko. We'll practice tomorrow." Waka said. I nodded, exhausted already.


End file.
